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Personal Handicaps

Personal handicaps track how each helm performs against the fleet over their recent results. For every completed corrected time race at your club, the system records a performance ratio for each finisher. These ratios accumulate over time and are visible on each sailor's public profile.

How the Personal Number Is Calculated

For every completed corrected time race, the system records how each helm performed against the fleet:

performance ratio = helm's corrected time / median corrected time of the race

A ratio of 1.0 means exactly mid-fleet, 0.95 means 5% faster than the fleet median, 1.05 means 5% slower. Ratios are always measured using the class handicaps.

The personal number applies that performance history to the class number:

  • Divide-based systems (PY, ASY, SCHRS, YTC): personal = class number x average ratio (a slower sailor gets a bigger number)
  • Multiply-based systems (IRC, CYCA, ECHO, NHC, SRS): personal = class number / average ratio (a slower sailor gets a smaller factor)

The average is taken over the helm's 10 most recent qualifying races, so the number adapts as they improve.

Which Races Count

  • Any completed corrected time race at your club where the sailor was helm counts, from any series
  • Entries that did not finish, or finished with a circumstance (DNF, DSQ, etc.), are excluded
  • The personal number is calculated from the very first qualifying race; there is no minimum number of races required

Fleet Used for the Ratio

The corrected times used to compute the fleet median depend on the series standing mode:

  • Division standings only (the default for multi-division races): each helm's ratio is calculated against the other finishers in their own division. This keeps results fair when courses of different lengths run concurrently, for example a Long Course and a Short Course fleet sailing the same race. If a helm races in multiple divisions, the system calculates a separate ratio for each division and records the average.
  • Division and overall standings: the ratio is calculated against all finishers across every division in the race.

Sailor Profiles

Each sailor's public profile shows a Personal Handicaps card for every class they have helmed: the class number, their current personal number, their average performance vs the fleet, and how many qualifying races back the number. A chart below tracks how each number has evolved race by race.

See Also